1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a language data storage and reproduction apparatus which stores language data in the form of speech or character data as an electric signal and retrieves and reproduces desired data from among the stored language data.
2. Description of the Related Art
One language data storage and reproduction apparatus of the type mentioned, an image data storage and reproduction apparatus is known and disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. Heisei 3-117283. In the image data storage and reproduction apparatus, image data of a high resolution are compressed, and the compressed image data of a high resolution and image data for retrieval of a low resolution corresponding to the image data of a high resolution are stored into a memory with identification numbers (IDs, tags) manually applied thereto. Then, retrieval is performed for the image data for retrieval of a low resolution using an ID as a retrieval key, and pertinent image data for retrieval is displayed in a low resolution to allow contents of it to be confirmed by the user, whereafter the image data of a high resolution having the same ID is decompressed and reproduced.
With the image data storage and reproduction apparatus, however, although reduction in memory capacity and high speed retrieval are anticipated, a desired image cannot be retrieved if an ID is not applied manually. Further, if it is not known in what corresponding relationship IDs and image data are stored, and besides if the corresponding relationship between an ID and image data is not fully established, a desired image of a high resolution cannot be reproduced. Further, compression and decompression processing for image data are required. Furthermore, the image data storage and reproduction apparatus cannot be applied to speech data since image data of a low resolution is used for retrieval.